SASKATOON — One Saskatchewan traditional and folk artist with ties to the Unity area is still beaming after being named one of the SOCAN Young Canadian Songwriter Award winners.
On Sept. 22, the SOCAN Foundation announced the five winners of the awards, sponsored by Sirius XM Canada, winning $5,000 each. Among those winners was Mary Liv, a traditional and folk singer-songwriter who has been performing for the past two years, with her song In the Ground.
“I am really grateful to have won this award and how it will help strengthen my resume and show festivals and get my name out for more bookings. I am really excited to reinvest some of the funds for my next album, which will be just me and my banjo,” said the winner.
Olivia Morelli, who is known as Mary Liv on the stage, grew up playing various string instruments, starting with the fiddle at the age of five. She broadened her abilities when she started playing guitar roughly seven years ago and banjo within the last five years, while trying her hand at songwriting.
“My mother always wanted to learn violin, so she put me and my sister in lessons,” said the artist.
As she grew up, she travelled to the John Arcand Fiddle Fest annually and fell in love with traditional and folk music. Paired with the stories she used to hear from her grandparents' life on the farm, Morelli began to dive a little more into the music industry.
“I started working for the Community Arts Mentorship Program in 2022, I have always loved teaching music as well as creating music. The friends I met along the way showed me that this was what I wanted to do,” said the singer-songwriter.
Although she is based out of Saskatoon, the artist has roots in Unity through her maternal families; the Swords and McMurrays. She recently put out a music video for her song Patchwork Dress, filmed at the Saskatoon Railway Museum.
“At the museum, the old Unity station there is the same one my grandfather stayed at for a night as a young man. It was fun to make the music video at a historic place rich in stories,” said Morelli.
The young artist has had many opportunities to collaborate with other local artists and musicians from the prairies while also finding inspiration from of her idols.
“My very first musical idol was Roger Miller. I heard him on the Muppet Show and I couldn’t get enough. I still love his music and get inspiration from his songwriting today. But if I could collaborate with someone famous, I would choose Dolly Parton,” said Morelli.
Over the past year, Morelli had the opportunity to perform for some of her largest audiences.
“I played the Bassment in Saskatoon last October as well as the Ness Creek Music Festival this past summer,” she said. She also added that she travels to Northern Saskatchewan to teach and is scheduled to be in La Ronge this month.
Morelli continues to write in between teaching and performing. She shared that her grandmother passed away from ALS a year and a half ago, and while she has not yet written a song on the experience, she knows there is one in there.
“For me, it’s not about getting famous or making millions. I want to share my music and stories with people, tell truthful stories and rip fast fiddle tunes. I love learning and passing on the knowledge as I do. I hope to continue to make a living as an artist, if I can do that, I will be happy.”
Other winners of the most recent SOCAN Young Canadian Songwriter Awards include Julie Grace, Simone Hope, Neimo, and Zacary Jamesa.
